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Project acronym: ARENA Project full title: Antarctic Research, a European Network for Astrophysics Contract no.: 026150 Co-ordination Action 1. Project summary The Antarctic plateau provides unique environmental conditions for astronomical observations. Astronomers are seriously considering Antarctica as a possible site for the construction of a new large observatory mainly dedicated to infrared and very high angular resolution observations to investigate extra-solar planets, the formation and evolution of planets, stars and galaxies, and cosmology. Two Member States, Italy and France, have recently completed the all-year round operated station CONCORDIA at Dome C, in the heart of Antarctica. The present programme is aimed to structure, reinforce and network several European laboratories and operators involved or willing to be involved in Antarctic astronomical investigations with the final objective to set up state of the art large instruments and focal plane equipment in the coming decade. The network consists of 4 activities in addition of the overall management, NA1, i) NA2 concerns the site qualification, ii) NA3 aims to identify the technical constraints on the design of large astronomical instruments for polar environment emphasizing robotization, iii) NA4 fosters collaborations between the operators of CONCORDIA and their users to add value to CONCORDIA, iv) NA5 focuses on the selection of appropriate key scientific programs, implemented in synergy with other ground based observatories and space missions. The project funds will therefore contribute to the currently on-going site qualification, and will help structuring the still dispersed and scarce teams of European astronomers through the organization of specialized workshops putting operators, users and industrial partners in close contact, and annual large international Conferences. The networks will deliver a detailed report on the site qualification over a period of 5 years, industrial reports and studies addressing the problems of building large instruments at Dome C, a book of carefully selected scientific key-programmes, and recommendations on the timeline of instrumental developments. 1 2. Project webpage: http://arena.unice.fr 3. Start date: 1 January 2006 Duration: 36 months 4. List of participants Participant number 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Organization Short name Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, France Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Rome, Italy Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Heidelberg, Germany Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam, Germany Universidad de Granada, Spain Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Tenerife, Spain University of Exeter, UK Università degli Studi di Perugia, Italy Institut Paul Emile Victor, Brest, France Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt, Berlin, Germany Observatoire de Paris, France Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique, Saclay, France Institut d’Astrophysique et de Géophysique de Liège, Belgium Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide, Rome, Italy University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia SHAKTIWARE, Marseilles, France AMOS, Liège, Belgium SESO, Aix-en-Provence, France Centro de Astrofisica da Universidade do Porto, Portugal European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany CNRS INAF MPIA AIP UGR IEEC/CSIC IAC UNEXE UNIPG IPEV DLR OP CEA ULG PNRA UNSW SHAK AMOS SESO CAUP ESO 2